Skimming means for tank furnaces



H. J. TRAVIS.

SKIMMlNG MEANS FUR TANK FUHNACES.

APPucAnoN mw nov. |9; 1920.

1 ,41 0,782. Patentd Mar. 28, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

INVENTOR Patented Mll. 28, 1922.

3 sHurs--SHEU 2.

INVENTOR BY M ATTORNEY V I| Il@ III@ \I mw\\\\\\\\\\\\\v\\\\\\\\\\w\\ H.l. IRAVIS.

SKIMMING MEANS FOR TANK FURNACES.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. I9z |920.

I-I. I. TRAVIS.

Smmmmn MEANS FUR TANK FURNACES.

APPLICATION HLED PLUV. 19; |920. V

Patented Miu', 28, 1922.

ra/V 21s INVENTOR @Velu/7 /CQ ATTORNEY or other means off cooling.

notches are formed in the side walls of t e` UNITED STATES 'PATENTOFFICE.

minnaar .my riuvis, or comme, NEW Yonx, AssIGNonl'ro como GLASS woiixs,or comino, Nnwjzomr, A conronknoir-or lm w Yonx.

simmmo MEANS ronTiurx macias.

l To allialkomtviiay concem: Y Be it known that: I, JQTRAVLS,Y 'acitizenr of the f United States and a resident of Corning, of Steubenand State of New York, have invented certain ew and 'useful Improvementsin Skimming Means for Tank Furnaces, of which the following is aspecification. Y f" v IThis' invention relates to furnaces, 'and moreparticularly to furnaces adapted to be used for melting metal. In thepresent instance, as illustration of anv 'embodiment of my invention, Ihave chosen yPto show the same applied to tank furnazes, sueh'as are inthe county 1n general use today for thei purpose of meltin glass.

eretofore, in the oonstru on of glass tank furnaces it has been thecustom to oontract each of the opposite side .walls thereof to leave asingle or double "spout-unillis,4 l i floating bridge wallsa're used,and

which latter are surrounded by atmosphere Thus lar e tanks, and dum-ingthe operation thereof, these notches cause 'considerable trouble, owingto their wealmess of construction. Furthermore, in order to providemeans for cooling the spout walls, that extend acrossv the .Walls of theinterior of the ,'tanks from the notches on one side to the notches onthe opposite side, it is necessary to make these notches with large openspaces therebetween, whereby air can pass freely around, for the purposeof lowering the temperature of the spout walls.

When this form of. construction is used, the spout walls connecting 'thethroats formed in the tanks by the notches, usually consist of Heatingmembers, that are 'placed between the contracted openings A,between therear, 0r melting portion of the tanks, and the front or working endthereof. As the notches formed in the side Walls extend from the bottomof the tanks towards the roof thereof, the tanks are dividedsubstantully into two chambers. which are closed hy bridges formingr thespout wall. AS these bridges are constructed so that they cannot morelaterally but are free to move upwardly and downwardly, and as they aresomewhatbuoyant, they are supported by the molten glass in the tank. ThebuoyancyoF the floating bridges, is usually such, that their uppersurface projects i ,f -Specieation of Letter: Patent. 'J l 1 l,Application led November 19; 18310.`

of America,

' the inks bri refraetoryjniaterial,capable of withstand- `Patented Mar.28, 1922.V 10.425,;20.

slightly above' the level of the molten glass, an' theytherefore vact asekinix'iiers for the impurities present adjacent the surface of glass,that isiuthemel end of the tanks, andin tliisvmanner su impurities are'caught by the "bridges 'and' prevented from passingfinto .the workingend of the are usually formed of ing theintense Vheat the moltenrefractory land chemical action of in order to make this custom' to;makelthemof some porous material., Ff

,There-fare; Severalkdisadvantages in util izi ttloa` .bridge walls forAlass tanks, 11S the' brid esgwill absorb suliceht molten, to. oliteratetheir buo ancy,`and this causes them Vto sink to the i lttomo'fthetank,thereby destroying their .-7 In*- other ,linstan when when thelevel I Iof v the glass `inthe tanks has been reduced somewhat, and thenraised, the bridges are caughtzintheir guideways, and prevented g'fwiththe moltenglass whensuchy level Y i To overcome the above mentioneddieulties, construct a glass tank With'its spo twallnotches eliminated,and in lieu ther eo'f,;pro'vde.a` spout wall cxtending `the Awidth ofthe tank. In the i embodiment( of In invention that I have hereinyillustrate and described, a tubular. bridge isixedly secured to theside walls f the tank, and positively positioned therein. This bridgeprovides `a passage for the molten 4glass 'that extends the entire widthof the and it is of suicient diameter or crossQsectinal area that itserves the purpose of a'skimmer for the molten glass,'whether itslevelbe low or high, and means'arealso provided for supporting thetubular bridgein the tank.

, In thedescrption to be hereinafter given, while the term ftank isused, it is to be un derstoodv that such name is chosen only foraterialbuoyant, it has been the the sake of brevity', andthat my'invention los art to whielrm invention a pertains, may make and use t esame, I wi l now describe a practicall form of structure falling withinits scope.Y

i ln the drawings accompanying this application and forming partthereo:-

Figure 1, is a horizontal section through a glass tank having a spoutwall constructed i in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2, is u vertical longitudinal Sectio through the tank shown in Fig.1, showing the spout wall in transverse section.

Fig. 3, is a section, taken on the line 3 3,

' su porting means for disks.

cferring to Figs. l and 2, of the' draw-v ings, l have shown aconventional form of4 tankfurnace suitable for use in melting glass. Thetank 1U. consists of a rectangular chamber having parallel side wallsl1. and a semicircular frontwall 12, which` walls, a suitable distanceabove the bottoni of the tank,` are arched to form a roof I3. The frontwall l2, may be provided with any number ofV boot-oienin'fs. that arefor the.

purpose of permitting workmen to make gathers from the molten glass iuthe tank, and this end ofthe tank is usually1 known as the working end.'lhc incltiiigcnd ol' a glass tank is usually ot' somewhat.greater arcathan thc working` ciid. liccaiisc thc iiialcrials troni which the glassis l'orincd iiiclt iallier'slou'ly, and il; thercfor rcrp'iircsconsidcrablc tiinc to preparc suchunatcrials ln-torcvlhc inollcu'glassis in a workable condition. 'illi this iii \'icw. l proposc to install askimming spout or bridge wall. that is positioned iii thc tank ncarcr totbc working cnil. than tothe melting end. .\s ilhistratcd. thi.`4skimming spout consists of a tubular iiiciubcr l5, that cxtcnds thewidth of tlil'tailk. and which is also placed :i suitable distanceaboi'c the bottoniV thcrof.

rl`hc tube l5 is prcierabl)v formed ol rlisklike blocks lli. iiiadc fromrel'ractor nia tcrial that will resist the flieniical action of iiioltcnglass. thc l ind ol' niatciial dcpending` of course. upon thc kind ol'glass. as various iiiatcri-.ilsl arc altackcil ilill'crciitly lwvariousl ingredient`v in iiioltcii glass, llach ol the blocks l. arclsiinilar in torni and dcsigii. and, asillusti'alcd by Figs. 4 andr 5,of thc drawings. thc blocks have foriiicd thciein a central boi-c li'.that providcs an opening which is cocxtcnsive with the width of thctank. when thc blocks are assembled therein. 'l`hc faccof cach of theblocks are provided with beads or' tongues 18. and grooves l. that areformed alternately tlicrcon. wlicrcbjthe tongues will engage The blocksare so designed that they form a substantially unitary structure thatwill function properly in any t pe or design of tank, and these blocksmay )e of any desired diameter, depending of course upon the Vsize ofthe tank, and the depth at which the molten glass is maintained therein.

For the purpose of installing sup i'tiiig and cooling means for' thetube, openings 20, of approximately the same diameter as the size of thecentral bore 17, of the blocks, are formed 'in the side walls of thetank, in'registration with, the hoi-e of the tube, and a pipe 21 ispositionediwitliin the'borc 1T, and this pipe has its ends projectingthrough the openings 20. Brackets 22 mounted upon the exteriorof thewalls of the tank and havin iin annular portion 24 which is fitted totheopeiiings 2U. and a recessed head 25 into which is inserted thc endsof the same, serves fas ineans for supporting the pipe 2l. The1 recessedheads 25 of the brackets are spaced from thc annular portions 24thereof, by means of radially extending arms 26. Through apertures 2Tcentrally located in each head 25 of the brackets is passed a tierod-28. having a head on oneend, and its opposite cnd threaded forthercceptionof a nut. .\n expansiblc spring 29 is inherposcd bctwccn thcnut on thc threaded end 0f 1 thc tie rod andthe hcad of the bracket, for

lbc purpose ol' pcrinitting thc various parts of which tbc tubc iscomposed. to expand and contra'cl without collapsing. as will be readilyunderstood .i

'llic dianictcr of thc pipell is'soniewhat lcss than thc diaiuctciot thccentral bore 17, and l'ornu-d on the cxtcrior of the former,intcrnicdiatc its cnds. arc radially cxtending pins 21' that are adaptedto act as supports for thc blocks lt. of the tube. The pins 23 arcarranged in staggered rclatioii whereby llil'cc or inore of them willengage the central boi-c li. of each block and as all are of thc 4sainelcngth, thc construction permits of the pipe to be centrally disposedwithin the bore. liach end of'the pipe 2l, is provided with a pluralityof slots or openings 3() which ure located in the protruding ends of thcpipe between the annular portions 24 and thc headsQ-'i of the brackets22.

As shown by Fig. 3. the method 0f sup porting thc pipe within thc tube.provides two independent air spaces. one being exterior of the pipe 21.while the other is in` terior the pipe 2l. The air in the space exteriorofthe pipe will absorb heat conducted through the blocks from the moltenglass that partially surrounds them, while the air in the space withinthe pipe will absorb the chilled sutiiciently to freeze the same to theoutersurface of theblocks, a hood 3l, hav- 1 floating upon or adjacenting one end enclosing one of thepipe supporting brackets 22, and itsother end o en, is secured to the side wall ofthe tank. ool

air introduced into the openend of thehood,

will as shown by the arrows in Fig. 3, and 7, pass through the openinformed in the racket, a uantity entering the the slots formed in t e endof the pipe within the bracket, while the remainder will pass into thespace within the tube that surrounds the pipe,` and as the opposite endofthe tube is open, this air will circulate through the ipe and tube,absorbing the radiated eat therein, and will then exhaust through theopenings in the opposite end. Dueto this cooling action, the molten lasswill becomeY chilled, and freeze to thesu merged ortion of the tube.This4 'results in ad itional strength 4being given the. tube, and thecoating o vglass upon the blocks 16, will tend to seal e ointstherebetween, thus preventing chemical action of the molten gla fromeating the material .of the blocks. The coating of lass upon the tubewill also serve as insu ating means, thereby preventing the' exe heat inthe tank from penetrating the tu The diameter of the tube 15, and itsposition within the tank may besuch thatthe spout wall formed thereby isof suilicient depth to prevent the passage of undesirable particlescontained in the molten lass'from passing from the melting end o thetank to the working end thereof whether they are le surface thereof,when the glass is at its maximum, of at its minimum working level.

Having thus described my invention. what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is 1. A spout4 wall for tank furnaces copsisting of atube composed of interlocked disks. 2. A spout wall for tank4 furnacesconsisting of atube composed of interlocked disks, and means forsupporting the tube from the side walls of the tank.

3. A spout wall for tank furnaces consisting of a tube composed of.intel'locked4 disks, and means for supporting the tube, fram the sidewalls of the tank, said sup porting means extending lthrough the disksand being spaced therefrom.

4. A spout wall for tank furnaces consisting of a tube composedofinterlocked disks. and means for su porting the tubes from the sidewalls of t e tank, said supporting means extending through the dis s-portiiig means for t positioned on the opposite ends of the sup- I epui' ose of securing said supporting` means to t e side walls of thetank.

6. A spout wall for tank furnaces consisting of a` tube composed ofinterlocked disks, meansY for supporting the tube from Athe side wallsof the tank,` said supporting means extendi through the disks, bracketspositioned on t e op osite ends of the supporting means fort e pur oseof securing Said sp'porting means to t e side walls of the ta and meansfor resiliently connectin the supporti means to the brackets.

A spout wal for tank furnaces consistingof atube composed of interlockeddisks, means for supporting the tube from the side walls of the tank,said supporting means extendin through the disks, brackets positionedont e op osite ends of the supporting means for t e purpose of securingsaid supporting means to the sidewalls of the tank, means forresiliently connecting the supporting means tothe brackets, and meansformed in the brackets for the pur pose .of permitting a cooling fluidto circulate through the tube.

8. A s out wall for tank furnaces consisting o a tube composed ofinterlocked disksz means for supporting the tube from the side walls ofthe tank, said supporting means extending through the disks, bracketspositioned on the opposite ends of the supporting means for the purposenf securing said supporting means to the side walls of the tank, meansfor resiliently connecting the supporting means to the brackets, meansformed in the brackets for the purpose of permitting a cooling fluid tocirculate through the tube, and a hood enclosing one of said brackets,said hood'bein designed to guide the cooling Huid towar s the tube.

9. A spout wall for tank furnaces consisting of a tube composed ofinterlocked 1-' disks, means for supporting the disks commeans formedinthe ends of the pipe bethereof for the purpoee of permitting a tweenthe flanges of the brackets and the coolin fluid to enter said tube andpass recessed headed portions thereof for the purtheretrough and aroundthe exterior of the 10 pose of permitting a cooling Huid to enter pi e.5 said pipe and pass therethrough, and meansn testimony whereof Ihereunto sign my formed in the brackets between the flanged name this10th da of Nov., 1920;

portions and the .recessed headed portions HER ERT JAY TRAVIS.

